The idea that Matt Daniels alone torpedoed the Vikings’ season with one kickoff return in Week 11 is a little too tidy for how last year actually played out.
Yes, Devin Duvernay ripped off a 56-yard return on the final kickoff against Minnesota, setting up Chicago’s game-winning field goal. J.J.
McCarthy had just guided the Vikings on a 10-play, 85-yard drive to put them ahead 17-16 with 50 seconds left, and it looked for a moment like Minnesota had stolen another late win from the Bears. Instead, Duvernay flipped the field, Cairo Santos drilled a 48-yarder three plays later, and the Bears walked out with the win.
That play became the easy point of blame for anyone trying to trace the Vikings’ playoff miss back to a single moment. But the season was already wobbling before that return ever happened.
Minnesota’s slide really started in Week 10, when Kevin O’Connell’s decision to have McCarthy go deep to Justin Jefferson ended in a momentum-swinging interception. McCarthy had looked sharp in Week 9 against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, enough to help Minnesota win in his return to Michigan, but the stretch that followed was brutal: the Bears at home, then Green Bay and Seattle.
At 4-5 after the Baltimore Ravens game, the Vikings still had a path. If they handled that run, the schedule lightened up and a playoff push was there to be made.
Instead, they blew the Bears game at home, McCarthy had his worst outing at Lambeau, and Minnesota’s hopes were effectively over. A week later, Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks pounded the Max Brosmer-led Vikings 26-0, the low point of the year.
Even with Minnesota’s five-game winning streak to finish the season, the backward math that pins everything on Daniels still doesn’t fully hold up. The Vikings would have ended at 10-6, would have won the tiebreaker over Detroit because they beat the Lions twice, and would have benefited from Green Bay’s 9-7-1 mark after its tie with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. But that version of the story also assumes O’Connell would have trimmed the offense if later games carried bigger stakes, that the Vikings’ late-season surge wasn’t helped by playing loose, and that they would have beaten Green Bay in Week 18 even though the Packers rested their starters for the playoffs.
That’s a lot to stack up just to get to the seventh seed. McCarthy would also have had to keep producing in high-pressure games to actually get Minnesota there. Firing Daniels over one kickoff lapse would have been an overreaction.
Instead, Daniels has kept his job and the Vikings’ patience has paid off. Minnesota’s special teams have helped support the defense early this season. Will Reichard kept the offense afloat until Kyler Murray began to settle in over the past two games, and Myles Price delivered an 86-yard punt return touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3.
O’Connell has seen plenty to like in Daniels’ work.
“There’s so many layers to what makes Hat a great coach,” said O’Connell, referring to Daniels’ nickname, derived from his hard-hitting style as a player (aka “laying the hat”). “I think his background as a player and the fact that a lot of the guys in that room know that he did a lot of those same jobs he’s asking of them. He’s got that nickname for a reason because of how he played, and they know that.”
Daniels’ value goes beyond the kicking game too. He’s heavily involved in player development and has a strong hand in teaching players how to force turnovers. That has helped special-teamers like Josh Metellus grow into core defenders, and it has shown up in the way players attack the ball in key moments.
“Matt has done a great job since the time I’ve been here,” said Flores. “He’s grown and evolved, and our kicking game has grown and evolved as the rules have changed. But just his ability to really hone in on the fundamentals, the techniques, the play style, and his relationships with players, the development of players in that phase.”
The Vikings’ coaching continuity matters here too. O’Connell moved on from former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell after one season, but Daniels and Wes Phillips have stayed with him since 2022, and Flores has been on staff since 2023. That stability has helped Minnesota build one of the league’s best defenses and a special teams unit that can give an undefeated team a boost early in the year.
So while it’s tempting to point to one kickoff return and declare Daniels cost the Vikings a playoff spot, the fuller picture is messier than that. Small margins matter in football, but so does the bigger run of a season. Minnesota was right to stay the course, and Daniels has earned the credit for helping turn the third phase into a real weapon.
In Other News...
Vikings Could Catch A Break As Colts Injuries Start Looming
The Colts second injury report of the week gave Minnesota a little more to monitor heading into Sundays game at U.S. Bank Stadium. The reports, which track participation from Wednesday through Friday and note designations like IR-OUT and limited work, showed a handful of Indianapolis starters dealing with availability concerns as the weekend draws closer.
Sauce Gardner, Tyler Warren and Rigoberto Sanchez were among the Colts players who were not on the field Thursday, leaving their status worth watching as the week moves along. Indianapolis did have some players move in the right direction on the report, but with no final game designations out yet, the Vikings still have to wait for the last word before knowing exactly who theyll be facing. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Herbert Is Suddenly At Center Of A Chargers Debate
The quarterback market keeps a Minnesota angle in view, even after the Vikings made their own offseason choice by bringing in Kyler Murray and letting Sam Darnold walk. Justin Herbert has been productive across his first six seasons with the Chargers, and the questions around his future have only sharpened the intrigue for teams that are always watching from the edge of a franchise-altering move.
For the Vikings, any Herbert talk is less about immediate need than about the kind of rare opening that can reshape a contender in a hurry. Nothing official has been confirmed, and Los Angeles has given no clear answer on where it stands, but the uncertainty alone is enough to keep Minnesota in the conversation as long as Herbert's status remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Demond Claiborne Nears A Make Or Break Vikings Moment
Demond Claibornes first month-plus in Minnesota has been a quiet one for a rookie running back who arrived with a chance to carve out a role. Through the first five games of the 2026 season, he has barely gotten on the field, and the Vikings have continued leaning on other options in the backfield even as injuries have created openings around him.
Claibornes situation is becoming harder to ignore because the snaps have not turned into much production, and the depth chart has not exactly cleared in his favor. Jordan Mason and DeeJay Dallas have both seen more work, leaving Claiborne in a spot where the next opportunity could say a lot about whether Minnesota still views him as part of its plan moving forward. [Read more 🡒]